Hammer blow for Ferguson

TEN-MAN Chelsea delivered a defiant message to Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United to move a giant step closer to lifting their second successive Premiership title with a sensational win against woeful West Ham.

TEN-MAN Chelsea delivered a defiant message to Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United to move a giant step closer to lifting their second successive Premiership title with a sensational win against woeful West Ham.

Jose Mourinho's men won 4-1 thanks to an astonishing first-half fightback which bore all the hallmarks of a team destined to lift back-to-back titles.

Chelsea trailed to a 10th-minute goal from West Ham's James Collins and were reduced to 10 men six minutes later when Nuno Maniche was red-carded for a lunge on Lionel Scaloni.

But they stormed back to score twice in three minutes through Didier Drogba (28) and Hernan Crespo (30) before centre-back partners John Terry and William Gallas wrapped up three vital points with strikes in the 53rd and 69th minutes.

The Hammers looked on course to upset Chelsea's march to the title when defender Collins rose unmarked to head Yossi Benayoun's corner into the net at the near post.

Maniche, in his first Premiership start for the club, smashed Didier Drogba's left-wing cross against the bar on 13 minutes and Essien headed the rebound wide.

But worse was to follow for Chelsea three minutes later when referee Chris Foy handed Maniche a straight red card for a careless lunge on full-back Lionel Scaloni.

But they showed champion class to draw level when Lampard's through-ball found Drogba racing clear of the West Ham defence, and though his first attempt was blocked by Collins, the striker kept his composure to slot home the rebound.

And just two minutes later they were in front, Crespo touching home Drogba's cross-shot at the far post.

The 10-man Blues kept pushing forward after the break and were 3-1 up within eight minutes of the restart.

Michael Essien did the hard work fooling two West Ham defenders on the edge of the penalty area before feeding Gallas who smashed his shot against the bar.

The rebound fell for Terry to smash a volley into the ground and the far corner of the net.

Chelsea's all-out attack was making a mockery of their one-man disadvantage as West Ham struggled to cope.

And 10 minutes later Gallas was on hand again to make it 4-1, picking up a loose ball from substitute Arjen Robben's blocked free-kick to score from six yards to complete a fantastic afternoon.

Chelsea boss Mourinho predicted that Drogba's superb performance would silence the critics who were ready to hound him out of the English game over claims that he was a "diver".

"Didier closed a few mouths today, not mine, because I always support him," he said.

"He was amazing. The team performance was unbelievable, but the way Didier worked for the team and the effort that he put in was unbelievable too.

"The best way for players is to speak on the pitch. I think Drogba should go home, switch on TV and listen to the pundits.

"He should buy every single paper to see if the same people who wanted to kill him, now have the common sense to give him the credit he deserves.

"We had no fear of playing with 10 men and dominated the game.

"The character of the players was unbelievable," said Mourinho.

"We are champions and we can be again in a couple of weeks. Even if Manchester United win every game we have the conditions to win it again."

Hammers boss Alan Pardew added, "We thought we were doing enough but you have to say Chelsea's 10 players produced a few world class performances."